Welcome Comrades to the 57th edition of the Dispatch This issue we have a Russian Techie making waves (and who I mistakenly cast in a German guise ), We have interviews from 2 different perspectives on the enterprising ARC.In tournaments we also have more on the TPA that is so popular among tournament players, but where Angola fails to mention the current comprehensive leader of TPA2 (yours truly )The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week, so head over there to check out all the latest tidbits about the maps we've all played, but rarely discuss.And then in that same vein, we also have the 200 maps celebration. Check it out to play the exciting Spot the Differences competition, vote on your favourite maps, and participate in the commemorative tournament.

Well, we don't have flag-bearers this year, but we do have a miniature section about Steelhorse's RISK Classic! I did a brief interview with the Tournament Director himself, and Dukasaur got to interview ARC Satellite Tournament winner, Flow520!

On a side note, I screwed up and managed to get part of Steelhorse's interview archived, so it's all my fault that this issue is so late, none of the other fine Reporters or Executives. I will be your lightning rod of disapproval

The Annual RISK Classic is a live RISK tournament held once a year. It's purpose is to give RISK enthusiasts from all over, the opportunity to pit their strategies against other RISK nuts like us, in a fun, yet "spiritedly competitive" environment. That said, the tournament attracts players of all ages and skill levels. We have kids as young as 10 and adults as old as 80 compete. But, on any given day, anyone can win...that is the beauty of the Annual RISK Classic. For a complete description of what the Annual RISK Classic is, we encourage you to visit our homepage at http://www.annualriskclassic.com/index.php

What role(s) do you play in the event?

I am the Tournament Director of the Annual RISK Classic and the owner and President of Board Game Entertainment, which owns the rights to, and sponsors, the tournament.

Where does the RISK Classic take place?

This year the Annual RISK Classic will be held in Bethlehem, PA at the Comfort Suites.

The tournament is double elimination and begins on Saturday morning. Each table in the first round always has 4-5 people, depending on the number of total players and how the bracketing works out.

What can I do there if/when I'm taking a break from RISK? What other things can one do at the RISK Classic? What all things will be going on? Etc.

For players who are not in a tournament game, or who have been eliminated, we will be running Sit & Go RISK Games all day Friday, Saturday, adn Sunday. Each player ponies up $5, $10, or $20, depending on the prize table they wish to play for. Then, it's winner take all. Also, the tournament takes place in the historic distric of Bethlehem, Pa. There are a ton of great restaurants, shopping, etc. in the area. And, there is a Sands Casino about 1/2 mile down the road. Plus, for those of us that are legal and like to have a bit of fun, the area has a great night life. And, if that isn't enough, it looks like we may be having a comedian, or two, do a little stand up at some point during the weekend, as well.

Alright, sell it to me. Why should I or anyone else come to the RISK Classic?

Simply said: It's a great time, with good people, in a friendly yet competitive, environment. And, we get to play a game that we all love to play...RISK...in a fair, structured, well-run tournament.

Meet the Tournament Winners: Satellite for the Risk Classicby Dukasaur

Flow520 was the winner of the Satellite for the 2nd Annual RISK Classic hosted by Steelhorse. It was first posted on April 25th of this year and was finished by July 1st. For this tournament, Steelhorse awarded a special prize: a ticket to the ARC itself. I've had an extensive conversation with Flow520 about it.So, what attracted you to this particular tournament?

I really like the idea of CC tournaments that are connected to real life tournaments. Last year I attended the first annual risk classic (ARC) as a CC flag bearer and had a complete blast meeting people and promoting this great site. Ask anyone who went to the first ARC: it was an amazing experience. It was simply all the world domination goodness against a high caliber of players that you could cram into a weekend. I absolutely knew I would be returning again this year. Thus, when I heard about the satellite tournament for the second ARC and the prize of a free seat, it was a no brainer.

I'm a bit curious about the ARC. How do they run it? Is it a bunch of people all playing at the same time in the same room, or is it in different rooms? Is there a lot of spectating, or is almost everyone there playing?

Well, for starters, most of the tournament information (including pictures) is available online at http://www.annualriskclassic.com. To give everyone a flavor of how epic it was, the first ARC was held in a large banquet type room so that everyone in the current round could play simultaneously. There were tables set up throughout the room each with a risk board to which entrants were randomly assigned. To keep things moving, a screen at the front of the room displayed a round count down timer (~3hr). Tables with a plethora of snack food, candy, and chilled beverages for the players lined one of the walls. The other walls were lined with tables holding really beautiful glass trophies for the tournament winners, smaller prizes for sit&go games such as boxed retail Risk boards, as well as raffle prize gift baskets centered around various themes such as sports and pop-culture. Initially, most of the spectating was by the team of coordinated tournament officials let by our own Steelhorse. However, as each round progressed and games finished, spectating increased. The tables of a couple epic games lasting to the bitter end of the round as well as the finals were completely surrounded by spectators. Those uninterested in spectating, or rather more interested in continuing their quest for global domination (and prizes) enjoyed sit&go games between rounds.

I went to the website as you suggested. Read all the tournament rules (which I liked) and I also spent quite a while browsing the photo galleries. There were a couple young guys with Conquer Club shirts on. Was one of those you?

Yup, each of the flag bearers; Gilligan, Godd, RedBaron0, bristow47, cpurcell, and me were wearing CC shirts and can be found in the photo galleries.

There are also pictures of many other CC’ers as well. (aalii, arkaxow, hwhrhett, squishyg, Steelhorse, ThrushAAX, the list goes on and on)

I had no idea there were so many! I only spotted a couple.

One thing that really blew my mind is that they use Escalating cards. All my life whenever I played Risk in real life, it was always Flat Rate. I had heard of Escalating, but I thought it was some mutant strain that somebody cooked up in their basement. Not until I joined CC did I actually encounter Escalating actually being played. And now I find out that not only is it played here on CC, but it is actually played in the competitive Risk world. So, I guess, to make a question out of this, did you primarily play Flat Rate or Escalating before you went to the Risk Classic, and was it/was it not, an a surprise to you?

Short answer; not surprising at all. From what I understand, escalating spoils has always been the primary set trade method for each version dating all the way back to the 1959 rulebook. Thus, I grew up primarily playing escalating spoils. Though I'm very glad CC has flat rate spoils. I tend to prefer flat rate spoils for 8-player games on larger maps such as World2.1. CC is great that way because it offers a wide array of maps and play-styles.

Continuing along the same lines as the premise of your question, what did initially surprise me about the ARC rules was the concept of being able to trade in a set upon elimination of an opponent without the need to have 5 or more cards. This concept was foreign to me, however it is the correct play-style according to the official 1959 and 1963 rulebooks. I think it's great that the ARC is getting back to the roots of the game by using the older rule sets. It was a lot of fun; I felt it added an extra strategy dynamic to the game, as well as encouraged players to take greater risks for potentially game ending board sweeps.

And just for reference (because I often wish we could be offered this play-style here on CC ):

Elimination of Opponents section of 1959 and 1963 rulebooks wrote: "A player, who on his turn, is able to take from the board the last remaining piece of an opponent, receives at once all cards which that opponent has in his possession. He may combine them with the cards and if he can make a set, he may turn it in immediately on that same turn to collect additional armies. If, as occasionally happens, he can make two or three sets, he may also turn them in, receiving the regular increase for each set. This situation can arise only when the total of the cards which a player holds, when added to the cards of the player whom he has eliminated, equals six or more. He must turn in enough sets to reduce the number of cards which he continues to hold to four or less. These new armies must be placed on the board in the usual manner. The player may then continue to play if he wishes, or he may pass the dice to the next player."

That's certainly interesting. One more thing that I didn't know. Just a quick aside, while we're on the subject of rule changes and improvements to CC: are there any others that you support?

Ah, there are so many good ideas up for evaluation and everyone has different tastes. Just take a gander though the Submitted Suggestions forum and vote or post in support for the ones you like.

Okay, I've certainly learned quite a bit from you about the Annual Risk Classic. Let's talk a bit about the Satellite tournament itself. Tell me about some of your memorable moments from that.

I think that every game was memorable as well as unique from a strategy perspective. The tournament was just good clean riskness with the occasional dice fail mixed in. Although I was fortunate enough not to have any major dice fails this tournament. Lucky me right?

Every game ended in Round 11. Is that about normal for 4-player Risk?

I think the majority of 4 player Standard Sequential Escalating Chained Sunny games on the Classic map run between 8 and 18 rounds. Thus, I think it's not extremely unlikly for three sequential games on the above settings to end on the same round. Though, I'm sure someone could use the game finder to go through the 17k+ finished games on these settings to determine the exact statistics.Sounds like a job for a serious Risk player, not a dilettante like me....

A few personal questions, just for flavour. What is your favourite colour?

I'll be wearing it at the ARC. Come see for yourself if you're so curious

What is your quest?

To advance from the third page to the first page of the CC scoreboard.

Which is faster, a European Swallow or an African Swallow?

That depends on which bird gets stuck with the coconut...

Your soapbox: anything you want to say to the CC world?

Hmm, I suppose if I had to stand up on a soap box to say a few things:*I would promote the need for more player suggested updates to be implemented to CC.*I would also encourage everyone to sign-up for the upcoming Annual Risk Classic November 5th and 6th. It's going to be a blast!*Finally I'd like to give a quick thanks to everyone who read this far, and also to Dukasaur for taking the time to interview people each week.

Thank you very much for your time, and good luck in all your future endeavours!

Welcome to another edition of the Freestyle Section. We have another edition of the Scum Insider for your mafia needs and an interview with our very own Dako. Much discussion about Russia and programming, with a side of akido.

As always, if you have any article ideas or would like to write for the Freestyle section, let me know.

Want to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia NewsThings are getting heated in Gangster Mafia after a mafia member turned up dead during the night. Two people are up for lynching, and everyone appears to be trying to decide which one they'll hang.

In Mafia Sevens, town only lost a vanilla townie, so the night seems to have ended about as well as they could had hoped. Whether they'll manage to lynch mafia on day 2 is still to be seen.

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

This week, we discuss the general town/mafia ratio in a balanced game.

Mafia Ratio Expected in a Standard Game

What is it?

Generally speaking, a standard game will have no more than about 25-35% of the roles be mafia ones. So smaller games may only have 2-3 mafia members, while large games may have up to 6-7 mafia members. This is not a hard rule however, as some mods favor different setups that may increase or decrease mafia numbers. Also, certain roles tend to either increase or decrease the number of mafia members. Serial Killers generally warrant one more mafia member in case the SKer kills mafia members as well as town. The presence of a Cult Recruiter may lower the number of mafia members as an early failed recruitment by the Cult Recruiter may end the threat of a cult win prematurely. In large games, there may be 2 smaller mafia groups instead of 1 large one.

Example

If there are 16 players at the beginning of the game, then we can assume around 4 total mafia members.

How to Use this Strategy

Knowing approximately how many mafia members there are helps town members determine whether they can afford to pursue borderline lynches. Town generally can afford a certain number of mislynches as they hold a numerical advantage. Depending on how many mafia members are lynched or nightkilled, the ability of town to survive a mislynch may ether increase or decrease as the game progresses. Larger mafia groups tend to have a mafia power role as well as the godfather, so town can compare the number of town power roles lost to the mafia power roles lost to determine if town is ahead.

Q. Any plans to get back in a competitive clan?Not sure. Sometimes I want to get back and strive for the top but sometimes I am really happy with my game load of 6 games. I guess I will get back eventually anyway.

Q. Since you are now Head Tech, can i pm you a list of people who may need their heads examined?Of course, we have a special room with different... machines... and instruments. Yes, please send those victims good fellows to me.

Q. Have I (cachejob) thanked you recently for all of your efforts on the site (particularly greasemonkey scripts)? if not, consider this that.Thanks. And I will not moan how little gratitude we receive as a Team CC members.

Q. Favorite poster, game partner, game opponent, mod, snacktime food?There are some posters I enjoy reading. Owenshooter, trapyoung, Pedronicus spring to mind. Game partners... I really like to play with Ace Rimmer when we both have time to plan our moves and rock the game. Chariot of Fire is the best teammate I have ever seen on this site. Next to him goes cachejob. And there are like 30 more people I would team up with any day. Favourite mod, this is hard. And not because I don't like any of them. I respect following volunteers the most: OliverFA, thenobodies80, Master Fenrir, Night Strike, Masli. They are all level headed, intellectual and mature. Those are like the most important qualities a good mod should possess.

Q. Are you really ''Russian'' is TOFU really ''Finnish'' is ace really himalayan cause him a layin?I don't like my nationbut I am really Russian.And the only things that TOFU finishedwere their opponents, that were diminished.And Ace is really himalayanand I ain't no lying.

Q. What programming languages are you proficient with?At real life I am a PHP developer. I also know JavaScript, C# and Python. Some bits of Java and a lot of different mark-up languages.

Q. Do you think lack is doing enough to maintain the site?Yes, he maintains the site well. If you think that he doesn't care you are deeply wrong.

Q. Do you think that of late some of the updates are not as important as others that have been waiting for some time now?I think most of the updates came to lack as "wow, what a cool thing, I want to do it right away" after which he was self-possessed and nothing could stop his development rush (hell yeah, I know how it feels). But soon you will see what are the real updates, that are planned, executed and impacts the whole site. Wait for the big one.

Q. What made you decide to work on the user scripts in the first place (for which many thanks)?I needed all the script myself so I wrote them. You know, it is a common practice to create nifty things that ease your life when you are a tech guy. I just decided to share them (open source forever!) and a lot of people found them useful and cool. And every CC script writer went with the same idea. No one is writing scripts they don't like for free .

Q. What made you decide to become part of Team CC?Free ftp access to exclusive porn of course.

Q. Which do you consider to be the best written script?The best written script I have ever seen was original Handy Game History which was abandoned and rescued by me. Original script can be found here (http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/12027)I haven't dig into many current scripts here but the most elegant must be Clickable Maps. BOB is very cluttered and hard to understand right now, too many functions are in there.

Q. Which do you consider to be the most useful script?Battle Observation Briefing for sure.

Q. Can you give any details on upcoming improvements?What is the point? I can only say that the next update will be logically connected to the previous updates (consider them as prerequisites).

Q. Can you say when we might be able to look forward to said improvements?I don't know the date but it looks like November or December.

Q. What Forums/Discussions to you look at mostly?Bug Reports and Clans.

Q. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) How much of a geek are you?8 I guess. I don't have a lot of geek friends or geek t-shirts (hello Sheldon). Though I like sci-fi, computer stuff and in soul I am 100% geek.

Q. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) How scary is it working on the same Team with Victor Sullivan? (EDIT: for clarity - meaning Team CC)Sully is not harmful, so I'd give it 1. And I know some special moves as well so I am safe.

Q. Do you have any hobbies?Yapp. I enjoy watching movies and TV series (The Mighty Boosh being the ultimate #1, Doctor Who is the normal #1). I also practice and teach aikido. I read a lot of books, fiction and professional both. And I adore board games of any format. I am also weak to animations, seen more than 1000 anime episodes and have read a lot of mangas.

Q. What's your favourite colour?#4B0082 and #191970

Q. What's your dream job?I would love to work as a CEO of some international IT giant. And run few of my own sites as a hobby. When I retire I plan to spend my time teaching people aikido and having a well-deserved rest.

Q. What do you do when you're not on CC?I work, I study for my PhD in IT, I teach aikido, I watch series and animations, I hang out with my friends and I do a lot of rubbish things that eat away my time.

Q. Do you like sports? If yes, what are your top 3 (in order)I like doing sports but I am not a sports fan at all. So I love aikido, swimming and snowboard. Sometimes enjoy watching some poker tournaments.

Q. If you had to choose one of the following jobs, which would you choose and why?a) High Salary, terrible jobb) Medium Salary, ok jobc) Low Salary, great jobI despise working on something I don't like. I also despise being short on money so I'd choose b). But of course I am one of the few people that have high salary and a great job .

Q. If I (slowreactor) wanted to start writing scripts for this site, what would I have to learn? (I think XML's a big one, but I'm not sure what else I would need).You got to learn JavaScript. XML is only a markup language and is very easy to understand.

Q. Why did you play Medvedev like that?Because our government is engulfed in corruption and rots on the inside. Surprised?

Q. Mother Russia or Father Time?FATHER TIIIME!

Q. How long until you join us at Empire?Uh, no matter how much I didn't want to emerge in the same clans it looks like the most obvious endpoint for me.

Q. Why is TOFU now a social clan. Was is an amicable socialization or was there some disagreements that preempted the decision?Unanimous amicable decision. Because we wanted to be friends more than pros and being pros went against some of our beliefs.

Q. Would you please make me (Ace Rimmer) an iPhone app for cc?Please send me an iPhone for testing purposes, 500$, and you will have your app.

Q. Ass or breast man?I like booty but I worship breasts.

Q. Is it offensive to you if I (Ace Rimmer) tell you that your sister is hot?Nope, because I do have a sister and because she is hot.

Q. What is your next script? Or are you working more behind the scenes now?You will see .

Q. Do you have an iPhone or other smartphone?I have some crappy HTC phone but I have never installed any apps there. I need a phone to make calls and write texts only.

Q. Are you Putin? Are you sitting for Putin for two terms and then giving up your seat to him?Oh, would it be smart for me being a Putin to unveil my cover? Hahaha, no, I am not Putin.

Q. Is DAKO an acronym for something too awesome for CC, or could you enlighten us on what it stands for?It is not an acronym, just a nickname my sister gave my like 10 years ago. Stuck to me :\. And I hate forums where you need to have username longer than 6 symbols. I HATE THEM.

Hello again my friends and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments!

Below you will find angola's TPA Update in its usual spot. Although Season One of the TPA is close to being finished, it is far from over. There are going to be photo-finishes, both between the first and second spot, and between the third and fourth. Have a look at angola's article and see for yourself!

Speaking of the TPA, if it's TPA Season Two you're interested in, you will find some in sonicsteve's Join This? Or Not! feature. Among his recommendations are two TPA tournaments including (if I can be forgiven for blowing my own horn a bit) my very first TPA event.

You may look in vain, however, for the Meet the Tournament Winners interview. Did we fail to produce one? No, in fact there is a MTTW interview, with Flow520 but it is up above in our special feature on the Annual Risk Classic.

TPA Year 1 is winding down and depending on who you talk to, we could have a rally on our hands.

sonicsteve has led from the beginning of this tournament, but according to him he will "probably" lose the title in the coming weeks. Anonymous sources close to MudPuppy, however, maintain that while he is making a run at the title, he will come up short.

Only time will tell.

Thirty-seven of the 52 weeks have been updated on the scoreboard and sonicsteve continues to maintain a healthy lead. He has 60.59 points to MudPuppy's 56.79, while HighlanderAttack is still in third with 50.56, though Bones2484 is making a charge at the bronze medal, with 49.43.

TPA Year 2 is underway with tournaments hitting the signup area ever Monday.

Look for mine in a couple of weeks. It will be the same old angola tournament, with lots of escalating.

And now for our regular look at a selection of the tournaments in sign-ups:

Firstly let's take a look at NCAA College Basketball, a.k.a. College Hoops. This tournament is now in its 5th season on CC according to flexmaster33. This is a 1v1 tournament with 6 maps per week and uses a scoring system based on the number of rounds it takes to finish each game. Signups will close for this one on October 28th.

Who could resist wanting to become the King of the Penguins? This charming event consists of 6-player Standard games on the Antartica map, with bonus points for those Penguins who can waddle to the South Pole fastest. Aaah!

From cute Penguins to the slightly-less-cute Police. The Chinese Communist Secret Police are the subject of Guojia Anquan Bu which is the latest TPA2 event in signups. Dukasaur is looking for at least 70 sign-ups for this Terminator tournament. Points are scored for kills, wins and sweeps, and the players with the lowest scores will be 'disappeared' between each round.

Another TPA2 event which still needed a few more signups at time of press is I picked which map?. barterer2002 is insisting that we all pick a map on which we have never won a game (Beta maps are allowed). If you have won on all 200 maps, you'll just have to pick your worst map and hope to reverse your losing streak.

If you're craving tourney action now, check out the Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum. You can be playing very quickly after signing up as a reserve.

Hello! Hello! Sully here with another fully-stocked Cartographic Surveillance, including a special interview with the 200th mapmaker, Seamus76! MarshalNey has taken over the "Stampage Update" and turned it into "Stamps & Rumors" (with the help of koontz1973), koontz finishes off his 3-part article series, OliverFA also talks about revamps (Hm, I wonder why...? ), and thehippo8 examines maps that have been sadly dropped due to real life circumstances. Next issue, isaiah40 should have a briefing for all you Foundry buffs about what exactly happened to Industrial Helix and more! Enjoy, folks!

On October 18th, thenobodies80 (foundry foreman) put into Beta, Conquer Clubs official 200th map. This milestone of map making achievement was given to Seamus76 and V.J. for there wonderful map Tribal War Florida.

How does it feel to get the 200th map on Conquer Club?It's pretty amazing actually, but regardless of the number, just to have a map be a part of the site is even more of an honour. There have been so many great maps made and to have one with our names on it is almost too good to be true.

Have you taken part in any of the festivities that came about with your map?Well of course we voted for our map. Thanks to the 2 other people who voted for it aswell. Now we're up to 4 total. . Other than that we've been a little busy working on somebeta bugs and trying to get some updates worked out.

Why Florida as the maps settings?I was born and raised in Florida, it's a great state. The shape also makes me feel more like a man when I see it on a map.

Again, why Tribes? is this an area of history you like?I've always been a huge fan of Native American History which is a big part of growing up in Florida, and being Jewish I feel a great respect for the people, their challenges and the adversity they have been through. I can remember as a young boy, many moons ago (terrible pun I know), searching for arrowheads with friends, and one of them actually found one. It was pretty cool, and stayed with me.

What major changes to the map happened over the course of the foundry?Wow, if you take a look at the very first version I put together and posted it's pretty awful, but at the time I was so proud of it, and also so naive thinking it was actually something that was ready to go into play. That feeling didn't last long, and the foundry did its job by helping me understand the need for quality, and pushing me to take my skills to the next level and step up my graphical game.Version 1.

With changes to the map. Was there any one part that was always complained about by the members of the community?Yes the title was always a work in progress and something that came together at the very end, but it's the little things like fuzzy borders and clarity of gameplay that were always challenged, forcing us to think about the map from the communities viewpoint, and to see what would be the best thing to keep people playing on it for a long time to come.

Was the initial feedback to the map positive?Compared to another map I put up hell yes, but there is always criticism when you post a map. That's what the process is all about, it's just how you take it. You can get defensive or you can take it constructively as a way to help improve the map. Most people who take the time to give feedback are experienced players or mapmakers who know what it takes to make a good map, and keep the quality of CC maps top notch. You just have to be open to it. As the map maker you also have to stick to your guns on issues that you feel strongly about, but at the same time if you don't have a good reason for something you have to be willing to change things.

How did you find the foundry?I was only a member of the site for a few months, but fell in love with everything CC early on and had to have more. I had a crazy idea that I wanted to make a map. I had no idea what the process was or how involved it may be and actually just blindly stumbled into the foundry. It was one of natty_dreads tutorials that made me think I could actually do it. I had no idea what kind of map I wanted to make but had recently been back to Florida which got me thinking of a Native American Tribe map.

It has taken you 6 months to get the map into Beta. Did you ever get the idea you would not get this far?Every day was a challenge to keep going. There were lots of late nights of trial and error, and a lot of real life work I should have been doing, but hell it's been fun. The Bison King gave me some good advice early on, which gave me the confidence to stick with it. Plus I absolutely hate giving up on anything. We feel extremely proud, and lucky that it only took 6 months.

You have V.J. as the person who did your xml. Why him and why not yourself?I'm a lover not a geek, I mean XML guy. He's been playing on the site for years, and is the one who got me started with CC. He's a good friend, and co-worker, and does tech stuff for the company so it was a natural fit for us to work on the map together. I do joke with him that it took me 6 months to get the graphics done and only 3 hours for him to write the XML, but he was a part of it the whole way and I couldn't have done my part without him. He's also a great strategist and knows gameplay very well, which was a huge help.

Have you found any problems with the map since it got into Beta that you need to fix? For sure, mostly with the XML side so I might have to give that a shot myself for the next one.Just kidding V.J., but now is the time he'll earn his keep I guess.

What size of game and settings would you recommend for your map?My initial thought was that it would be a good map for clan quads, and also a good 1v1 battle map, but like most maps the design was intended to fit just about any size game. Personally though I would have to say fog helps with strategy, and makes it pretty competitive for any size game.

Did you win your first game?Hell no, V.J. kicked my ass pretty good.

What's next?Twins. LOL. No really, I'm not sure how much map making I'll be doing in the near future with my wife due in the next couple of months. Two boys on the way though, which will be a great addition to the little princess we already have, but I'm having a hard time convincing my wife on the names Conquer and Club, or Natty and Cairns. She just doesn't get it. Koontz doesn't sound too bad though. Maybe I can swing it as a middle name.Congrats on the twins. You are right, koontz will make a great middle name.

Which maps do you like to play?I'm a big fan of Galapagos, it's my home map for quite a few tourneys, but recently have enjoyed Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having visited the Galapagos a few years ago it's an amazing place and the map represents it well, and is great fun.

Did you enjoy making the map?Absolutely. This has been a true labor of love, but really one of the best things is that I have met some great people in the foundry and had some amazing debates and conversations. The foundry is like a clan of its own, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Is this something you would recommend to other potential map makers?For sure, just know what you are getting into and have the will and patience to keep with it.

I believe you live in Florida, which territ do you live in?Lol, I actually now live in Atlanta, but was born in the Tequesta territ, and grew up in the Timucua War Zone. Having an older brother our house seemed like a war zone at times, but Florida is a great place, not just to visit.

What program do you use to draw?I used GIMP for this, but had originally started with an old version of Photoshop Elements. Having no prior graphical experience, other than photoshoping friends heads onto funny bodies, I turned to the foundry map making guides for help and found natty_dreads amazing tutorials which used GIMP. I struggled for a few hours trying to translate that to Photoshop, but found it much easier to download GIMP and do it right.

Did you find it easy or hard to learn?It's a great program, and there are a lot of great guides available, especially in the foundry. It was actually pretty easy to pick up, and the best part is it's free. It certainly has its limitations, but so does my wallet, so GIMP it was for me.

Was the foundry helpful in helping you learn how to make the map?The foundry is the only reason this map made it past the first version and to beta. Without the help of all the CA's, and unfortunately I can't name them all, and amazing map makers like Cairnswk and DiM this map would be in the recycling bin. It was especially natty_dread and MarshalNey who were the most helpful and influential to me, and the map early on, and I can't thank them enough.

KNIGHTS by koontz1973, a map designed with the classic Chess Knight in mind. Attacks proceed with the Knight "L"-shaped move, requiring some extra thought before a player makes their move.MAFIA by Minister X, a mapmaker with 2 other excellent maps working on graphics- Rome (Caesar is Dead) and Gettysburg. This map pits famous mob bosses against each other in the seedy districts of downtown Chicago, currently designed as a conquest-style map.Pot Mosbi by cairnswck, the famous and prolific author of over 30 CC maps. The style is vintage cairns, featuring the city using the pidgin dialect of the area.King's Court 2 by Kabanellas, designed as a bigger, badder sequel to the original CC map King's Court. New Court Members, resources and road mechanics expand the strategic options of the original- promising a deep, engrossing epic that has become the Kabanellas Standard.

New Jersey by chaos32679 and Tisha, a relatively small city map (48 regions consisting of 6 bonus areas and 1 autodeploy) with some veteran graphics experience behind it.1982 Falklands War by koontz1973, a sharp-minded mapmaker covering the historical British conflict over the disputed island chain off the coast of Argentina. The map features an intricate array of the British and Argentine forces, including captial warships, submarines, helicopters and jets.Trench Warfare by Flapcake, his second effort in the Foundry next to his rapidly progressing map of the Kingdom of Denmark (in the Main Foundry, working on graphics). The map is designed around the dreaded static war between two opposing systems of trenches on the Western Front during World War One, and the deadly killing fields in between known as No Man's Land.

Colonial Africa by The Bison King, the gifted artist seeking to depict the results of the "Scramble for Africa" by the Great Powers of Europe, circa the early 20th century.Zombie Invasion! by MarshalNey, a campy, tongue-in-cheek tribute to all of the zombie apocalypse movies and fiction from the last 20 years. Currently seeking advice on an added gameplay twist (a losing condition).

Salem's Switch and RAIL ASIA a pair of maps by cairnswck. The latter is the finishing touch to cairns' Rail map pack, with plenty of bonuses and 3 main rail hubs, while the former is a delicious conquest map covering the infamous 17th century Puritan witch trials at Salem, in colonial America.All Your Base Are Belong to Us by DiM, a light-hearted fight to the death between humans and aliens, where research and all your base must be utilized or you have no chance and must make your time.

Rumor has it...

Colonial Africa is nearing a gameplay stamp, pending a few tweaks. TBK is doing this map at a slower pace than his previous three, but expect to see this map going after a graphics stamp soon. Legend clarity will need community advice, so visit the thread if you get a chance. Tokyo is a hair's breadth from a gameplay stamp, but the mapmaker might need patience from the community before this sleek, anime-style city map makes it to completion. The reason? She's recently had a baby! Congratulations shakeycat London is looking for any gameplay advice, as a stamp is under consideration. Comments so far have been mostly about thematic graphics, some of them bordering on abuse. Perhaps this is because we have a strong London contingent on CC, or perhaps because other mapmakers have a London map project in progress, and they have their own- quite strong- ideas of what the map should look like. Either way, natty_dread is the mapmaker that's getting it done at the moment, so let's see how far this one goes and give all the gameplay advice the community can muster.Godwanaland is close to a stamp. Featured last issue, this prehistoric map has dinosaurs, tar pits and fissures... welcome to the jungle, courtesy of first-time mapmaker decian.west.

Tribal War: Florida by Seamus76 and V.J., a modestly intricate map with rich bonuses, covering the historical conflict in Florida between the Spanish Conqistadors and the native tribes. It's an impressive map from a pair of first-time mapmakers, so be sure to check it out once it hits Beta and provide feedback.

When I started this article, I only wanted it to be one issue. But the more I dug into this particular map, a wealth of information came to light. This map has been a staple of Conquer Club sinces it inception in one form or another.

Best quotes from chat.Jumblez: next time. stupid fuc*ing dice. (Now a common complaint )lackattack: crap i forgot to earn a card (And this from founder )Not only is game one classic map but 2163263 games have been played on this map. This number is wrong as it does not include all of the clones.

The StartThe very first map on the site that got called Classic is no longer with us. I have not been able to find it anywhere. What does it look like, I have no idea, but it did get the site into a little hot water. We all know the board game that is similar to the site, no doubt, many if not all of us have played it at one time or another. It seems that the original map was a bit to close to it so a letter was sent forcing the site to remove it ASAP. Not unlike this one that was sent to Google making them take down their version.

Flying Saucers Jan 2008This is the earliest image I have got. I believe that it is also a clone of the first map but with slight changes. This is the second time Classic had been touched up in its brief history. The first was to make borders and region colourings easier on the eye. This one added army circles to the map (hence the flying saucers reference).Changes that where not liked.

lackattack wrote:Reading all the feedback from the Tuesday's changes to the Classic, it's pretty clear that we screwed up.

This screw up caused some consternation on the site with some saying great work but most saying no thank you. lackattack in his most benevolent way set up a way to solve the problem.

lackattack wrote:I expected the change would have been well received after the touchup spent over 2 months in the Map Foundry - but the Classic is so important that we should have publicized this beforehand on a much larger scale. Rest assured that we are listeningcarefully to what the community has to say. That's why we prepared this post and poll - to see what YOU want your Classic to look like!viewtopic.php?f=127&t=48700

After a total of 3310 votes , white army circles appeared all over the map.April 2008And once again, some are not happy.

delahoc wrote:There has been a series of changes made to the classic (v2?) map today that make it even harder to read who owns what. The background colour behind troop numbers has changed from a dark shade to a whiter shade, and now it's much harder to read.Can I strongly recommend that it be changed back????

And so, we are now back to where we began this story. A map beloved by all, a map that was the very beginning of this site, lost for ever, never to be played by anyone who came after.Who is Lynn and why shapes?It is easy to find the fall out from the removal of Classic map funny now but back then it was not so funny. People came to this site to play a certain game and got robbed of it. Speculation was flying all over the place.

Twill wrote:Let me clear a couple things up right this second before rumours and speculation take over and become fact and/or doom and gloom 1) The classic map and all other "stuff" had to change, you all know that and you know why. Saying "lets just put up the same map with different colours, it will be fine" obviously isn't going to work - I'm pretty sure very few of us here are lawyers, so lets not speculate.and2) I don't know what will need to change to make sure we don't put CC back into potential copyright issues in the future. I can't say what vetos may or may not come from the turtle, just don't read too much into MrBenn's speculations just yet. All we know for sure is that the new map will have to be sufficiently different from the old map to avoid these "potential copyright issues". What is sufficient is exactly what's up in the air and is what's causing the slow down and confusion for us all. Again, if you have not passed a bar exam, or hold a PhD and at least 10 years of experience with copyright issues, please don't go around trying to convince people you know what is or isn't sufficient, it's just going to cause more confusion and more problems.Yes, we want to get everything fixed up as soon as possible, we certainly aren't TRYING to piss everyone off with the map. No matter how like the US-gov't-in-crisis you may think we are, we're not quite THAT stupid...or I hope we're not This isn't going to be popular to say, but can we all relax a couple more days and we will get a map through as fast as possible. We don't want to have to change it again in 6 months because it has the same potential issues the last one did.We're struggling with the new map as much as you guys are. My life would sure would be a whole heck of a lot easier without all this drama (it's seriously sucking my life away from me!) so I'm personally as interested as all of you to get this whole thing sorted soon to everyone's satisfaction. However that wont happen instantly no matter how much we wish it.Hang in there, know that we aren't having great days either, and we will all work together to get this out fast, great and non-problematic.Twill

Players like samuelc812 took initiative and produced maps to replace classic in the down time. Only problem was that no one knew if these tempary solutions would work till a replacement could be found. And one was.Classic Shapes Oct 2008

RjBeals wrote:... I'm sure there's a couple of old timers who may know the secret.

By any imagination, this map would never get past the foundry process today as it stands but as a solution it worked. It changed enough of the old classic to be allowed onto the site and it stayed with us for some time.My only question now is...Who is Lynn?As no one has come forward to take credit for this map, here are my thoughts on who...lackattacklackattack's mumlackattack's second cousin from his first wife's brothers mother twice removed (now lives in deepest darkest Peru) Sorry lack, please do not kick me of the site.Classic Art Oct 2008Welcome to the Star Chamber.

MrBenn wrote:However, a small team of people have been working through the night, and hopefully will be able to announce something later today...

This is the first public announcement made by MrBenn of a group of 6 map makers, so stunned by the developments over Classic and Lucky Charms, they spent a 24 hour period, sitting at there computers, not eating or washing, just using copious amounts of illegal drugs to stay awake (and bucket for waste if you are wondering ) getting this map produced. Thanks for this map goes tomibi, WidowMakers, oaktown, Incandenza, yeti_c and MrBennAll 6 received a general contribution medal for there trouble.

oaktown wrote:Classic Art wasn't the greatest piece of art ever made here, but the process was fascinating and I'm proud of what we did. A group of us watched as mibi threw the basic elements together in a webcast before our eyes, while the rest of us error checked, wrote the XML, came up with names and the theme, etc. We passed the .PSD file around to whomever had time to fix connections, add troop containers, etc, and the entire thing was done in under 24 hours. Proves that it doesn't need to take 9 months to make a CC map... though I'd agree that it takes more than 24 hours to make a really good map.

Now the site has two maps, both with the classic name and the reputation of

DiM wrote:wow really really horrible. yuck.

Well, nothing to do then apart from a poll.

lackattack wrote:We needed a change, but the map we put up wasn't popular. So this was put together in an impressive overnight marathon from 6 Map Foundry regulars (thanks guys!). Is this better than what we have now? If so, we'll change it out.P.S. I know these recent changes have been a surprise and hard to swallow. All I can say is that I understand your concerns but I'm trying to do what is best for the club. Please try and work with us to make CC the best game & community it can be.

Guess what, Classic Art won the poll by a clear margin (remember, this is not the sites official Classic), so in the sites almighty wisdom..

lackattack wrote:After pondering the situation, I think fracturing Classic into two versions is the best way to meet the desires of the community. So I present to you... Classic Shapes and Classic Art!

macbone wrote:Yeah, Shapes and Art were kind of painful to play.

World Cities Mar 2009The birth of a new classic.

sully800 wrote:My goal for this map is to create a map of the world that is of standard size (instead of the very large World 2.1). I know that we cannot create a map of the world countries that is too similar to the old classic map, so I have decided to highlight some of the most important cities from different countries around the world.

The response to this map was very good. It is an improvement over the previous two.But first, the problems to solve.

AndyDufresne wrote:It'll be good to ask Lack---but my initial thoughts are that it's fine.--Andy

Lobster Crush wrote:I like it. I'm tempted to start nitpicking about which cities are included

lackattack wrote:Here are my thoughts on the copyright issue, which unfortunately isn't about what's actually legal rather what could lead to trouble...If we designate this map as Classic (e.g. Classic Cities), I'd consider it borderline. The fact that the territs are pinpoints rather than areas and the map is split over the Atlantic are plusses. However the fact is you're still playing for continents on an obvious world map. I don't think it's worth the risk to install something like this, but it's on the right track for a Classic REVAMP solution! Can you now find a way to make the continents as different as cities are from countries???If we call the map World Cities and don't link it to Classic, then maybe the copyright issue would be okay. However, I don't think it's good to quench multiple maps with exact gameplay (with the exception of the Classic Shapes and Art which I hope we can merge someday ) and this has much more potential than just another map, if you guys can continue thinking outside the box

The problem of legality over the map took 5 months to solve before lackattack came back.

lackattack wrote:For the record, when World Cities is quenched it is going to be installed as a regular map and not a Classic REVAMP.Also, I think this map is so distinct from other popular global-domination game maps that it is legal to split it over the Atlantic and people will enjoy that better (I realize I should have posted that 3 months ago, very sorry!).

At this stage, the map had gone through numerous versions and entered the Final Forge.Classic as we know it Oct 2009

MrBenn wrote:The time has finally come for Classic Shapes to be reinvigorated and be given the facelift it so strongly deserves and needs. The mapmaking elite - in consultation with the foundry moderators and lackattack himself - have given the green light for the map-formerly-known-as-world-cities to be revamped as the New Classic Map.

And so we come to the end of the road. A map that has been with us from the beginning has come full circle. From a map that looked pretty awful, got taken away, made worse and then better. To this, a map that may have flaws in it but as a map, is the most loved on the site. Is this the end of the road for Classic? Will it get another revamp? Can anyone beat Sully800's version? Only time will tell.The End or is it.Just one more map to show you. If any of you have got one of these medals in your home page , then you will recognize this.This is the classic map used by the Society of Cooks. The sites very own training academy.Thanks to macbone who runs the academy for letting me have this. As you can see, it has the current classic image with the lucky charms names. Supposed too make it easier to learn on.

Well that's all folks. A huge thanks to everyone who helped over these 3 issues. Sorry if I could not get all of your words in. I did try.

But I am left with a hollow feeling at the end of all this. 2 pieces of information that have not come to light (I did try), and after all this time, I feel it would be safe to divulge would be - who did the revamp for Flying Saucers map? and who is Lynn?

Lately, revamps have become quite popular in the Foundry. It all started with some updates to outdated maps, but as time goes the number of revamps keeps growing. Or at least, this number has grown big enough to catch my attention about it and want to say a couple of things about it.

But first things first. What is a revamp? A revamp is newer version of an already existing map that is supposed to improve the previous version in one or more ways, usually in the graphics department. In the early days of Conquer Club, map standards where not so high as they are nowadays. Consequently, some maps were produced that, despite the hard work from their mapmakers, have obvious opportunities for improvement. In my opinion it’s a good idea to provide those maps the polished look they deserve. It should not be seen as a criticism to the old versions or their authors. They were good at their time. In fact, it’s thanks to them that the newer, revamped version is possible. Very often is a lot easier to improve something that already exists. But creating something from scratch… is a harder work, even if the results are not as good. Revamps are a testimonial to the work made in the first version, and everybody enjoys the results, which are a combined effort of the work in the first and the second versions.

Other times the revamp is motivated by another reasons, such as the need to make the map slightly different, or at least different enough. In such occasions is also a good idea to use the occasion to update the map a little bit improving its looks. It’s like saying “provided that we are working on this. Why not do something more for the same price?” The results are usually good, like with the well-known Classic map.

Some other times this “provided that we are working on this” goes one step beyond, to what could be call small tweaks, such as in changing a couple of bonuses to fix what seems to be an unbalance. However, such “balance changes” should be done carefully, because unless the vast majority of the Foundry agrees that there is a real unbalance, fixing it would not result in a significant improvement and would confuse veteran players. But yes, there are some times when there is a wide consensus about a part of the map that is unbalanced and was not perceived during the development time. In such cases is good to fix it.

If we go one more step ahead we go from the “it would be nice to fix this” to the “it would be cool to add this”. I am not really sold on this idea. Adding something or changing something because “it’s cool” could change the way in which the map is played and thus the whole experience. We would be substituting one experience by another that has some similarities but it’s not the same. That could go against the original spirit and idea of the map. In such cases I think it would be a better idea to make a second part of the original map, keeping both versions in the catalogue.

So as you see, revamps are in fashion, in all sizes and colours. Will this trend continue? Seems quite likely, and I am sure that many enjoyable hours of game lie ahead thanks to revamps.

Some of us dream of coming up with that one idea that will see a new map (and maybe their name up in lights!). Then there are those who have come up with those gems but real life got in the way. And the rest of us are gutted – our tongues hanging out lusting for these delights to just HAPPEN! No doubt many of the good ideas will get going but here is a brief survey of some of those ideas.

Here Evil DIMwit developed an inspired new concept altogether. Four disconnected regions where the winning condition is predicated on a player dominating their own territory first. A lively debate ensued both over imagery and gameplay.

As to imagery, Evil DIMwit’s first idea was four randomly selected countries:

Click image to enlarge.

They were selected:

Because they're small. Because they're often overshadowed by their neighbors and don't have maps of their own. Because those territories are actual administrative divisions and I can't be bothered to do enough research to split a country up into meaningful territories on my own.

Seems like everybody had their own ideas on what countries could be chosen, not least of which was ironsij0287’s Wharholesque concept:

don't know if you're keen on fictional places but what if it was just one country but mirrored four times into four different dimensions or alternate realities? Almost like a comic book bizarro world scenario. Here's a crudely drawn example of my idea.

Another idea: reversing the victory condition idea... into a losing condition: you need to maintain a presence on all of the maps or you're eliminated from the game. That could be interesting, like playing 4 games at once and if you lose one you lose all... the only problem here is making it so that everyone gets equal territories in all separate areas.

I think that last bit is one reason a victory condition map is better than a losing condition map.

There was a lively discussion regarding regions, starting positions, team play and whether there should be some cross-over between the maps. As to that last issue Evil Dimwit rightly noted:

That would cause some impossible scenarios; say, if player A was eliminated from one map and player B was eliminated from another, and player C from a third, there's no way of re-entering a country once you're eliminated from it.

Regarding capital bombardments and other map-to-map links: I feel like this would drive the map closer to what Cold War is, where the board is divided but there's still a bit of communication. In principle, I don't think that would break the map but it kind of takes away from the pure idea of strategically deciding which map to deploy in and which *not* to deploy in.

I don't like the idea of cross map activity myself. I can forsee that leading to games that never end. Like a two player game where they end up removing each other from 2 of the 4 and then their bonuses per round would be so high that they could never stop each other from constantly bombarding back and forth.

I know you are used to long production times but anything new and unique gameplay wise is certainly very welcome. The faster we can get this to beta the earliler we will know if it even works or if it will require a major revision like das schloss did.

But real life gets in the way - although Evil Dimwit keeps the torch alive with:

The reason it's taken so long is because I've been at a tremendously busy period in my life -- starting a job and moving to a new city and driving across the country and doing fascinating things -- but it looks like things will be stabilizing soon so hopefully I'll be able to move at least some of my maps forward (including this one).

The amazing Industrial Helix showing an incredible knowledge of geography and history developed this map:

Click image to enlarge.

It would be unfair to try and recreate the massive discussion that went on in the 18 pages of interplay, and perhaps the original comment by Industrial Helix says it all:

Yay, the promised Russian Civil War- looks nice. I was happy to see Poland and the Baltics and of course the "Western" (British) influence involved. I was about to say something about the stranded Czech Legion that dominated from their railcars, but then I scrolled over and viola! Very well researched, very well done.

But here it is the real life intervention is truly astounding as Industrial Helix bares his soul:

just a heads up and sort of update: i was living in japan and then woke up to a giant headache and left sideparalysis,...it was a massive stroke.. some stranger came to my door unexpectedly and called an ambulance.. he probably saved my life. anyway, i chilled out in the hospital in tokyo for a while then my mom came and brought me home to the usa for treatment, which is where I'm at now... i can give more details when i have two fully functioning hands to type and then I'll be able to work on the map some more

Smashing onto our consciousness Dolomite13 brings the thrill of the speedway to CC:

Click image to enlarge.

With graphics and gameplay stamps behind him, you’d think this would race into Beta but then Dolomite13 let’s us know:

Heading off to Cancun for my wedding/honeymoon ... I have been working on the graphics a bit but dont have anything to share just yet. Don;t give up hope on me I will have an update shortly after I return in a few weeks.

Had my computer in the pits temporarily but now its out and roaring around the track...Start Your Engines!!! I can work on this thing once again =) Just got windows 7 installed fresh on a new 2tb hard drive. Upgraded the machine ram to 16g, the video card to a beefy overclocked gtx570 and photoshop from CS3 to CS5...

Apologies to veryone I've been quite sick over the past few months and still am on antibiotics right now, but I plan to get back to work on this now and hopefully we'll have a new version in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all your patience and understanding.

Edit: I started work recently and have a very hard time finishing the map. Does anyone want to offer his/her help to take-over the project and finish the map? It will look very nice at the end! The project is in Photoshop. If someone is brave enough, pls contact me and I will pass you the Photoshop Project

Now that might be a good reason for him to come to the end of the line (for now) but where is the community support. Come on people lend a hand! And remember – two can share the glory on any map. You’ll never get a better offer!

Thank you all for you comments but due to exams and time constraints I wont be able to finish this map. I have all the development files and if anyone would like to carry this on then please Pm me. Thanks for all your hard work and comments and thanks to the Mapmaking Mods. Ill see all you guys around

Well if you’re not going to take up TheSaxLad‘s offer, what’s your excuse for not taking up this one?

And now for something completely different from the fantaysmic Danyael:

Click image to enlarge.

Danyael worked long and hard, through 19 versions and stalled at the precipice to Betaville before in his words:

I myself was disappointed that this hit the bin, but what can you do thats life. not all things work out as we see planned one day things can totally flip your world around. as i dreamt of my mythopoeia for quite the slumber myself from this small idea i've formed a whole new realm of fantasy So.. I have now returned and able once again to continue... but i'm not quite ready for an offcial update.

But he was only having a little time out and says:

the goblins they do nothing....in there long sumbler...but there are babies to eat .....and dragons to plunder...`they have begun to stir ... yes indeed !

BoganGod returns to the clan team this issue, with his enterprising column, this time dealing with the messaging ailments that afflict the popular species of clan leaders, and lets be honest, most of us should recall some type of carbon copying we hate.And then I give a rundown on whats been happening on the Cup front in the clan scene, so if you'd like to know whats the down-low in your clan tournament, thats what you need to check.

Also of note is that after weeks of controversy and excitement in the IA vs Pack match-up, where even admin King Achilles had to step in, the thread has seemed to have quietened down for the better, while still heading for a tense finale as the Pack looks to have the edge in the end-of-war run-in, and with some enterprising banter that seems to be more well taken in the dignified manner it should always have been.

And then this weeks shout-out goes to all-time top 100 candidate and another RA member, jsnyder748 for getting his first star! If you want to share your tales of success and tribulations in the clan world, pm me! There are many exciting clan wars being under-represented currently with all the Cup action, so tell us your first-hand experiences of the amazing battles that make clans such a thrilling experience.

One of the joys of being a clan leader is the multitude of spam one gets on a daily basis. Every man, woman, and child, and their assorted pets(be they hellenic canines, persian pussies etc) sends myself and other clan leaders private messages, requesting we mobilize our clans to vote/comment on this, that, etc. It fills my grubby little rum drenched soul with joy, elation, and simple gratitude that members of the community wish to contact little ole me, and believe I can help them. What I've started to lose patience with, is those annoying habitual rodent molesters who send pm's to everyone, rather than using the bcc option. Sadly for there to be an average, in this case an average IQ, there must be those above average, and those below average. Quite frankly I'm surprised that some people can even send pm's, with their drooling stupidity, one imagines they have a loud internal dialogue(breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, ooooh pretty picture <gasp, choke> ouch must remember, breathe in, breathe out) going on. So the mouth breathing imbeciles or lazy pricks send all, rather than bcc. Then there is always the satan fellating incestuous pig rapist who replies all. Not sure who is more deserving of being placed in a room and forced to listen to bieber on repeat whilst watching endless looped repeats of the brady bunch. If you agree/disagree think I've missed something. For gods sake don't pm me. Please address any thoughts on this issue to any of the OTT fora attention whores, the most venal to be found frequently posting in C&A, often with irrelevant little bleats about how they got banned for something similar.

THOTA vs.TSM [23-27]- Seeded 1st and 3rd coming into this competition, but currently 3rd and 4th in the A400 rankings, another thrilling semi-final encounter. This time we have Georgerx7di's take on the outcome:Completed gamesThota 23 Tsm 27

It must be remembered that a lot of these games are still relatively slim leads even if they are in favour of 1 team or the other. Specially in the Tsm-Thota where there are only exciting trips and quad encounters. However, the balls do seem to be in Tsm and Kort's courts respectively (or perhaps it's only because info is being taken from Tsm and Kort pundits, empire and thota definitely stay tight-lipped ).

[url]ACC 2nd round[/url]

The GG vs AoD war remains uncertain with a lot of controversy still surrounding it. I can't make head or tail of whats gone on, so head on over to the thread to see if you can learn any more outta the matter.

However, there have been quite a few upsets in the competition, with perhaps less fancied PR, Leg (forfeit win) and MM coming out trumps in their encounters.

Every time when i see Classic Art map,i remember how some people avoide all foundry process and be above all other map makers,creating something what its very bad, and then get 6 medals instead 2. Now these is camouflaged with Special Contribution Medal for classic art. If i create these i will kick these medal imediatly,because these not worthy to get any kind of medal, unfortunatly some people like to have more medals. These map deserve to be awarded with minus 6 medal not plus 6 medal. I only can hope that Thenobodie will never alove that these behavior of CA and Foundry foreman never again hepend,and that one day all 6 person give these medal back to lack, because these is not something what they be proud.I still have issue with mine contribution medal for map foundry. I need to contact thenobodies.

there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal.For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.

qwert wrote:there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal.For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.

Maybe its your intention, but you make me sad. Of course you deserve your medal ... why do you say you don't? Remember that a contribution medal is a contribution medal and nothing more. It's not like you have been awarded a VC! Mind you, a bit like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory maybe by offering your medal back you will win the whole factory? LOL No seriously Quert you make a huge contributionand the foundary would not be the same without it! Not sure what is going on for you right now but you do have supporters so chins up!

Leehar wrote:The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week...

I usually try to read the parts of the newsletter that interest me (but am not always successful at completing this). I enjoy the interrogations (and this one with Dako was no exception) and other sections, but I've never commented before ( Sorry, you guys do a great job!).

I have to say now, though, that I agree with Leehar. The Foundry section (always one of my favorites) was fantastic this issue. Love the new "Stamps & Rumors". Well written and informative!

Thanks all, for keeping the community in the loop. This really is becoming a must read (just have to find the time).

Leehar wrote:The Foundry section also becomes more and more informative by the week...

I usually try to read the parts of the newsletter that interest me (but am not always successful at completing this). I enjoy the interrogations (and this one with Dako was no exception) and other sections, but I've never commented before ( Sorry, you guys do a great job!).

I have to say now, though, that I agree with Leehar. The Foundry section (always one of my favorites) was fantastic this issue. Love the new "Stamps & Rumors". Well written and informative!

Thanks all, for keeping the community in the loop. This really is becoming a must read (just have to find the time).

Your comments are much appreciated, Ffraid! Glad you liked it! You know, you should venture into the Foundry yourself sometime

qwert wrote:there is no time limit for good act, and probably need to pass even more years,for example you can show that the first sign of goodwill and to give up the medal.For instance i try to get rid of mine Special contribution medal for map foundry,because i get these from MrBeen, and i dont know for what,and what its worst there is nowhere any announcment, and like i say,im all ready awarded with map medals, and i dont want to be holder of these contribution medal. As long you hold these medal i will never come back in map foundry, and as long they refuse to remove mine special contribution medal, these will also be opstacle to mine return to map foundry. Maybe these look like lost battle,but one day justice will win,and you and other 5 will realised that these medal its something what you dont deserve, making the right and honorable move.

Ffs, they're virtual medals... they're nothing but imaginary things represented by a few pixels on your profile. Get over it.